Design Engineer jobs in United Kingdom

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Senior Software Engineer - Product

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Compensation: GBP 55,000 - GBP 70,000 / year

Description

We're building the UK's next generation engineering powerhouse, providing critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience.

At Rowden, we design and integrate advanced systems and products that sense, connect, and protect data in challenging environments where quick decisions are vital. Our solutions use intelligent automation to enhance speed and efficiency and are built to be reliable and straightforward for critical operations in remote or high-pressure settings.

Headquartered in Bristol (UK), we combine modern engineering methods with cutting-edge commercial technology to create adaptable, mission-critical systems. We focus on solving the tough challenges that others overlook, ensuring our customers can operate effectively in an ever-changing world.

We're growing our team and looking for talented Software Engineers to work on exciting projects aiming to deliver real value to our key customers.

You'll join a diverse team of engineers at Rowden. You'll contribute to a hands-on engineering culture, sharing knowledge and lessons with the wider engineering team, and learn new things yourself along the way.

You'll work primarily on Rowden's innovative product portfolio, helping shape the next generation of intelligent, deployable technologies that bridge the gap between frontline operators and the commercial advancements they need to succeed. From embedded systems and cloud-integrated platforms to intuitive user interfaces and automation tooling, your work will directly influence how our products perform in the real world.

Pace matters. In 2024, we delivered our first full-stack hardware product to end users, from concept through to mass production, in just eight months. That included industrial design, embedded software, cloud integration, and rigorous testing across operational environments. This is the kind of momentum we're building on, and the kind of impact you'll help drive.

As a Software Engineer at Rowden, these are some of the core areas you'll be working in:

• Building and refining diverse product features with a focus on user-centric design, ease of use, and operational clarity in high-pressure environments.
• Debugging complex issues such as concurrency problems, memory leaks, and system crashes to maintain system stability and robustness.
• Writing clean, maintainable code across a range of programming languages and environments, depending on the needs of each product or project.
• Developing and executing comprehensive test plans, including unit, integration, automated tests and performance tests, to validate system behaviour and resilience.
• Designing and implementing core components across multiple operating system, including kernel modules, device drivers, memory management, and process scheduling.
• Developing system libraries and APIs that enable seamless communication between components and applications, ensuring performance and reliability.
• Using version control systems, particularly Git, to manage and track changes across collaborative codebases.
• Working within Agile frameworks, contributing to sprints, stand-ups, and iterative development cycles.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about technology and who actively invests in their technical skills and abilities. You will be constantly learning and developing in this role, but some key skills and experience you should already have include:

Technical Expertise:

• Proficient in Python and Rust, with experience architecting and developing robust, maintainable software systems.
• Comfortable working across a range of platforms including Windows, Linux-based embedded systems, and cloud-hosted environments.
• Capable of writing clean, efficient, and maintainable code, applying sound software engineering principles to solve complex problems.
• Familiar with infrastructure concepts such as containerisation, orchestration, and deployment pipelines, experience with cloud platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure) is a plus.
• Skilled in using development tools, version control systems (particularly Git), and building systems to support collaborative, high-quality engineering workflows.
• Demonstrates strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to quickly grasp new technologies and adapt to evolving project requirements.
• Experience working on diverse projects, contributing to both greenfield development and enhancement of existing systems.

• Collaborative mindset, with experience working in cross-functional teams in Agile frameworks.
• Exhibits a high level of professionalism, reliability, and effective communication skills. Able to work independently with minimal supervision while also collaborating effectively, contributing to project goals, and delivering quality results within agreed timelines.

• Understands the importance of secure software design and implementation, with a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating potential risks across platforms.

• Experience in regulated sectors delivering complex networked systems, such as defense, national security, telecommunications, financial services, or automotive industries.
• Familiarity with system architecture and design patterns for scalable, resilient software systems.
• Knowledge of additional programming languages such as Go, C, C++, C#, or Kotlin.
• Experience with custom Linux distributions or embedded systems development.
• Exposure to Android development (OS or application level), with a strong understanding of the Android SDK, application lifecycle, Android development tools and UI/UX design principles, is a nice-to-have, but not essential.

The ideal candidate will have a strong balance of the below technical skills, experience, and the behavioural competencies that we believe are key to success in the role:

• Teamworking and collaboration - you'll work closely with other engineers and developers as part of a cross functional team. The ability to communicate well, share knowledge and challenge constructively is an essential skill for the role.
• Ability (and desire) to learn - our industry changes rapidly, and you should be comfortable with regularly learning new technologies, programming languages and platforms. Lack of experience in any technology should not be a barrier to your involvement in a project that uses it.
• Adaptability, resilience, and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds, so please apply and come as you are!

We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid-working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part-time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants.

Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible.

Finally, if you feel that you don't meet all the criteria included above but have transferable skills and relevant experience, we'd still love to hear from you!